Dimensionist's Drabbles
by Dimensionist
Summary: A series of short drabbles, expressing ideas that amused me. Story ideas, one shots, or even just random scenarios that occurred to me - you can find them here.
1. A Look From A Higher Plane

Summary: Sometimes, it's good to have some perspective. A 'what if?' where there's only one character among many, and he's a bit different from what you'd expect ...

After all, for as strong as you get, there's always a stronger power ...

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Naruto, wouldn't be writing this if I did.

* * *

_One shot. That's all he had._

_He pulled back his hand, wind twisting and grinding to levels unheard of in the history of the Elemental Nations. Kurama's chakra bubbled and hissed, flicking between golden and black as he twisted it into the impossibly powerful technique being formed. The power of Nature, drawn through him, meshed with the technique, giving it stability and an extra weight. Everything he had was invested into it._

_One shot. He'd have to make it count._

_The battle that had just happened had been them most titanic one since recorded history - and it had been just between the two of them. All others had fallen, either on his side or his opponent's. Kakashi, Gai, Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke - all gone. Madara and the other Edos, and the other Zetsus were gone too._

_It was just the two of them. Two people who would decide the fate of the world._

_His opponent's arm flashed out, fire becoming hot enough to crack the world. His other hand inscribed a circle, and space and time twisted to his will, becoming a sword as large as a mountain and as potent as a black hole._

_That wasn't the end of it, of course. Once the battle was over, the Juubi was there for the taking. With it's power, everyone could be revived, reality remolded._

_The winner would take all. The loser? Well, the loser wouldn't be in any condition to take anything._

_"This reality will end tonight, Uzumaki", Obito's solemn, confident voice stated. "And your defiance with it. I'll bring the world peace."_

_"Heh", Naruto managed to grin, despite the sorrow he felt at what had come to pass. That was for later though, not now, and so he pushed it down. "Peace? That's just an illusion. Just a fantasy. Peace can only come from understanding, from work, from hardship. It won't come from your dreams, idiot."_

_"An illusion can often be as good as reality, Uzumaki. You'll find out soon enough."_

_He simply grinned again, his arm arcing out, legs bunching up for one final pass. "No thanks. That illusion of yours-"_

_He charged, vanishing from sight, covering miles in moments. A roar, that would come to be heard only after the attack had connected, echoing outward._

_"-I'll shatter it!"_

_The attacks met, fire and force meeting wind and will. And then-_

"NAR_]70/**NAR_]70.**"

The entity known as 'NAR_]70', currently shaped in the form that others in a more mundane universe would identify as the typical homo sapien sapien male, flicked 'his' sensory receptors to more properly orient on the entity that had interrupted him.

The entity that had called out to him had chosen to adopt the same species for physical interaction in 3D space as well, even if the resemblance to his own was hardly there. It was shaped like a female of the species, but modifications had been made to it - a secondary image seemed to travel along with it, intersecting and coinciding with the first form, even as it shifted from time to time, demonstrating autonomous ability. Likely representative of the DualCon consciousness mod she'd outfitted herself with, he noted enviously.

His request for a MultiCon mod had been denied, but _her_, oh no, _her_ would be-

Well, there was no point in bitching. She was popular and liked, he was not, end of story.

"What is it, S4K08A-chan?"

"First of all, drop the suffix/**you idiot**. It's pointlessly drawing on a language that has no place here/**sucks, like you**.

Secondly, the Universal Creation Project was supposed to be based on a logical and coherent structure, using static variables/**wasn't supposed to suck, like you**. It was also supposed to involve original elements and inhabitants, not a hopelessly reduced version of us/**why am I flat-chested, you prick**? You, on the other hand, have created a universe where characters are the same, and an interface which contravenes the very laws you encoded in the system/**nonsensical retard**. You're going to fail the Project at this rate/**pft, like that's a surprise**."

"U-um, well, it kinda works, and the setting is kinda original-"

"Aren't the lines that avatar of you just spoke directly copied from 5/!\S8\3's avatar in his own universe?/**So much better than you could ever be**"

"H-hey, they're totally original! I mean, they just made sense is all!"

"Whatever you say/**Fucking plagiarist**."

"W-well, I- hey, are they looking at us?"

Indeed, his avatar and the villain he'd created (who looked suspiciously like 08![-0, their Mechanics of the 13th Dimension teacher, S4K08A noted) had noticed the two entities, and had been reduced to gibbering in horror as they tried to comprehend the size of two beings who could probably fit the world they fought on in their pupils, and yet who they could see perfectly clearly.

"You know the rules/**screwup**."

"Aw man, now I have to do this _all over again_."

With an errant thought, the universe and everything it contained vanished into oblivion, no thought given to the screams of those lost as they utterly faded from existence.

Grumbling, or doing what passed for grumbling for entities like him, he began to reconstruct the universe, making something a tad less ambitious and more coherent in it's passing. Maybe something based on that boring 11-dimensional universe he'd seen? The one with that galaxy named after a candy bar?

... That wouldn't be plagiarism, would it? No, no, that was just being inspired. By a mundane, boring universe with rules and laws he'd seen everywhere. And which wouldn't get him a good grade even if nobody cottoned on to what it was inspired from.

Dammit, he needed better ideas.

Though he was glad she hadn't seen-

"Incidentally, I perused through your universe's history and noticed that your avatar desired me. Yet, despite the universe being oriented as per your subjective views, he failed to woo me/**couldn't even get me in your fantasies, loser**."

NAR_]70 just sighed. He could never catch a break.

* * *

A/N: First drabble, more to come. Things I basically type up when I get bored.

Review if it amuses you. Or not, as the case may be. Don't think any critical reviewing can be done with such a small sample size, but I'll take what I can get.


	2. Shattering Illusions

Summary: What lies beyond the Moon's Eye Plan? A look at a possible future. Slight Matrix crossover, if only in the theme and elements.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, wouldn't write this if I did.

* * *

He was still groggy from the transition - shaking and trembling all over. The trip hadn't been kind on him, and the stark reality he'd been exposed to had been bleak enough to cause physical pain.

This ... couldn't be true. He just couldn't accept it.

It _couldn't be._

"Oh, quit it, you baby. You've barely even scratched the surface, and you're already wimping out."

The sharp, mocking voice of the woman in front of him brought him back to reality. He glared at her - she'd been nothing but antagonistic all the way up to this point, and he was in no mood to put up with her snide comments right now.

... Or at least, he didn't _want_ to. The choice wasn't really his now, was it? Not like he could even do anything to her - the woman who'd casually ... casually ...

Even now, he felt a bit sick. What she'd _done_ to those people. And she'd actually seemed to _enjoy_ it.

"Snake, please - don't antagonize him. We're here to help, not-"

"Are you?" he asked, unable to stop himself from blurting it out. "You took me from my home, from my friends - you, you killed all those _people_-"

He took a deep breath - hyperventilating wasn't going to do any good.

Well, at least the glasses wearing guy hadn't interrupted him. That was a good sign, right?

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked, gesticulating furiously at the silver haired boy - the one who seemed in charge, and had spoken out in his defense. "After everything that happened, everything you did - how, how do I know this isn't just some sick dream or, or a hallucination or something?"

"Look around, numbnuts" the woman retorted. Her gait had become more predatory, and he could detect a faint hint of irritation in her tone. "Does this _look_ like a hallucination to you?"

Her hand suddenly came up - too fast for him to even follow. The next moment, it was like time had skipped him by - suddenly, she was right next to him ... licking the blood of his cheek?!

Panicking, he jumped away from her, tumbling to the ground due to his lost balance. The woman merely let out another laugh - mocking and amused at the same time.

But ... the pain was real. Or, at least was exactly like that in the illusion, which he'd thought to be the real world, but was actually a lie. So did that make this pain like that of an illusion, and hence not real - meaning he _was_ actually dreaming this up, only when he woke he'd still be 'dreaming'?

... Gah. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind - he could deal with existential crises on his own time.

" ... Okay" he said, slowly and cautiously. "Say you're not lying - that this whole thing isn't some stupid nightmare I'm having. How ... How is all this even possible?"

He gestured at their surroundings - their bleak, ashen surroundings, which had been a city only a few moments ago, he was sure of it.

"This ... this was Konoha! This was my city! How did we just go from that to ... to _this?! _A worldwide hallucination? A never-ending dream? What kind of whacked out shit is that?!"

"And more than that, you killed people! If they were under an illusion - if, if they weren't even _trying_ to harm you of their own free will, then why-"

"You really just don't know when to shut up, do you?", the purple-haired woman fiercely retorted. " 'Oh noes, we killed people, we're _monsters'_'. Well newsflash, dipshit - those guys weren't _out, _you get me? They were Dorms. And that means, they were still connected."

She inched closer to him, her fierce eyes flashing out at him. Involuntarily, he gulped, her whole demeanor reminding him of a coiled snake about to strike.

"Every thought, every fucking memory, every goddamn action they were gonna take - guess who's responsible for it. Guess who was going to be controlling it, huh? You think, in that suped up hallucination, that they would have stayed the way they had? Fuck no. Leave 'em alone, for even an instant - and you're not facing Dorms, kiddo - you're facing _Kages_. Shadows - those little monstrous automatons that he likes to bring out when he's through playing."

"... He?" And goddammit, he was _not_ trembling. He _wasn't_.

"The guy responsible for all this, of course", she said, her wide smile incredibly disconcerting. "The Puppetmaster, the Architect, _God_ - whatever the hell you want to call him. We don't know who he is, or _what _he is - we just know he used to be one of us. _Human_. Until he got too emo for his britches and figured he'd make everyone stop fighting. Stop _thinking_. Stop **living**."

"Uzumaki Naruto", the silver-haired man interrupted. "Further details can, and will, be obtained only after you've made a commitment. This isn't a charity house - you are either with us, or against us."

"... A-Against you? What ... what will you do to me, if I refuse?"

The man smiled, a simple, nonchalant smile as he uttered those damning words-

"Absolutely nothing."

..._ Eh?_

"We will do absolutely nothing - to you, or for you. You will be returned to your old life, none the worse for wear."

... That sounded good. _Too _good.

"... And spend the rest of my life with the knowledge that I'm a puppet. Or just have it erased. As if these moments never happened."

The man's smile grew wider. "Exactly."

A puppet. A life of no freedom, with his every action being dictated by a being on high.

They could be lying, of course. There might be another explanation, something that would make sense of all that had happened. Except ... except he had no other source to turn too, and he had a sinking feeling that they were telling the complete truth.

They didn't need to leave him alone, after all. If this was just a scam, it was too elaborate and _real_ for them to do all this for no possible gain. And if they were right ... if they were right, then there was only one thing he'd become, one thing he _refused _to become-

"I ...", his voice shook, the sheer emotion, and _rightness_ in the statement leaving him breathless. "I ... refuse to be a tool."

And he did. Right down to the very essence of who he was, down to his _core_ - he felt this truth. He _lived_ this truth.

"I'm in."

The silver-haired man laughed, a deep, resonating laugh that echoed around them. Beside him, the psychotic purple-haired woman smirked, twirling her knife through her fingers.

"Well said! It seems your Impression is stronger than most."

"... Impression?"

"Of course, I haven't explained have I? One thing you should know is that none of those who are _out_, who live in death and shadows - Shinobi, we're called - have any memories of who we used to be. Before the Illusion, I mean. All we have is faint 'impressions' of who we used to be, half-formed instincts and ideologies, ways of life we refused to give up even as our minds were taken over. Only someone with a strong Impression can get out, but I can see just by the way you said those words that yours is unusually strong. Our Impressions provide our _reasons_ for getting out."

"What was yours?" Naruto asked, unable to stop himself. "Why- I mean, why did you choose to leave it?"

"Power", the man smirked, the words rolling across his tongue in the first example of emotion and passion he'd seen from him. "I want to be powerful, to be able to make my own way in the world, unbound by anyone else's orders or desires. You can only imagine how much this Illusion chafed at me."

Naruto shivered, feeling chills develop along his spine. Something about that ... something about that seemed _wrong_, like a half-remembered warning that had no force behind it.

"In any case", the man said, clapping his hands together. "We acknowledge your choice. Let us formally introduce ourselves - Snake, you already know-"

He gestured to the purple-haired woman, who did a mock curtsy in his direction.

"- and my name, is Silver."

"A-are those your real names? They seem ..."

"Fake?" the woman finished, smirking down at him. "No, brat, they're real. More real than any name we had in that fucked up dream. These names are who we are _now_, free of who we were _then_."

"You see, Uzumaki-san," the silver-haired boy (whose name made sense now) explained, "most of those who get out disassociate themselves completely from their previous life. It makes it easier to get over what was lost, to start anew. A new name is not a requirement, but it is recommended - best you forget what your life used to be."

He slowly nodded. He could see the logic in that. Still, he wasn't too eager to change his name.

He didn't know if he could really let go of all those memories, of all those times he spent with those precious to him.

"So ..." he wondered, "Is this it? Is there anything else I have to do?"

The woman snorted, mumbling something under her breath. The boy chided her, before turning back to Naruto, adjusting his glasses.

"There is nothing else to it, Uzumaki-san. As long as you stand by your decision and are sure about it, we should leave. It's best not to give _him_ time to track and find us."

Naruto shuddered, already familiar with the 'him' in question. The Architect, the woman had mentioned. The one who made this illusion.

They began to move forwards, before the silver-haired boy suddenly stopped.

"Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to properly welcome you!"

He turned, stretching his hand in greeting.

"Welcome, Uzumaki-san, to the rising dawn that will illuminate this deceptive world.

Welcome, to the Akatsuki."

* * *

A/N: As always, review to your heart's desire. No, seriously, review - I'm a new writer, and I could use all the help I can get.


	3. Get Your Head In The Game

Summary: What if everything you knew about your life was a game?

Disclaimer: Don't own ZnT, do own this fic, yadda yadda yadda.

* * *

He didn't remember how he got here.

Trudging through the surreal landscape before him, he idly wondered what 'here' even was. All around him was a kind of suffocating blackness that chilled him - that seeped into his skin and brought to mind uncomfortable and bleak thoughts. In front of him lay a single white panel - and as he stepped upon it, another panel formed ahead of him. A single path, and one which he seemed to have walked for weeks now - a teasing glimpse of hope and shelter that seemed forever out of his reach.

By now, he'd grown inured to it. In the beginning, he'd called for help, for companionship. He'd started softly, volume rising as he grew more and more agitated at his strange solitude. By the end, he'd been screaming - for Louise, for Siesta, for any of the friends and allies he'd made over the years - heck, he'd even started screaming for his enemies. Anything to drive away the crushing isolation.

No one had answered. He'd stopped caring about it now, as a defense mechanism - to ward away his growing mental instability. All he saw now was the white path set before him. Cruel though it was, it at least offered something to use for stability.

Even that wasn't helping now. He could feel his mind fraying, as the constant repetition brought about it's own problems. Still, there was nothing else he could do.

Well, there was one thing. No one could say he wasn't stubborn, after all.

"Is anyone there?", he cried out again, throat rasping from disuse. "Please, can anyone hear me?"

Nothing. But he'd expected it, so it didn't sting as much as it had before.

"Please! I'm ... I'm tired! An-And I don't think I can last much longer! If there's anyone out there, please! Tell me what I was brought here for! What do you want with me?"

Nothing. For a moment, Saito was struck with a powerful, irrational rage - at this situation, at the people who'd brought him and trapped him here. This ... this was worse than anything Louise had ever done, any hardship that he'd ever suffered in life. This crushing nothingness ... He'd give **anything**to make it end.

It passed, as it always did. His rage never really lasted for long, and he knew it. Still, it did lessen the stress a bit - even if the situation was just as bleak as it had always been.

Throat now aching from the abuse he'd put on it, he quieted down. Strange that he didn't need water or food, but his physical body still felt the aches and pains it would have been expected to feel before. Then again, this whole situation was strange.

Gathering up his will, Saito trudged on, quietly praying for a release from this nightmare.

It never came.

He'd gone on for another week or so, from that time. From time to time, he'd shout for an end to his predicament, although nothing really came of it. By this point, he was tired - mentally and spiritually, if not physically. Too tired to continue.

Still, his body was faithful. It trudged on, again and again, from one white panel to the next, to the next, to the next-

He shook his head, trying to regain his equilibrium. It was getting so _easy_- so easy to lose himself, to simply stop thinking completely ...

He wasn't sure anymore if he should even bother resisting, even though a part of him balked at the notion. He was just so _tired_...

A flash. White seeping everywhere, washing away the chilling darkness.

Saito stumbled, caught off-guard by this sudden change. Even as he squinted at the sudden increase in light, his heart was leaping in joy - an end, finally an end!

Now properly adjusted, he observed his surroundings. While at first glance it appeared to be nothing but a white expanse as far as the eyes could see, there were some stark additions that hadn't been there before ...

For some reason, there seemed to be an uncountable number of circular depressions built into the 'ground'. At the center of these circles was a strange triangle, looking like some kind of futuristic microprocessor.

Each circle was placed in a surprisingly orderly manner. Five meters or so, in all lateral directions, from one circle, another was placed, and so on. The triangles appeared to be located at the absolute center of each circle, with their tops sheared off for some reason, glowing ominously. All this, he noted in a detached way, still not recovered from that grueling trip through the 'white path'

His observations were halted as a high-pitched noise started echoing in his head. Accompanying that noise were strange symbols, which looked familiar for some reason. Even as his dulled mind noted them, the symbols began glowing - until finally, they flashed.

And Saito Hiraga was no more.

The being who had once been called by that name staggered, clutching his head. Images danced before his mind - memories, information, impressions and personality twisted and reformed, becoming a new, _different_whole.

When all was said and done, Saito Hiraga clutched his head and fell - and someone else rose, clutching his head and wincing.

"Man, that was _messed up_", he muttered, rising from the crouch he'd fallen into. The memories of that long, LONG trek back to the V-Way - which had been wholly unnecessary, considering that the 'white' path had been a way to represent the situation and pass time, not an actual route to follow - were still fresh in his head.

The loneliness and despair were such that he was tempted to edit them out of his memory banks. Still, the whole point of playing World Sims was to have new experiences - he wasn't going to remove them just because they weren't nice. Who knows, maybe he'd even enjoy sharing them the next time he met his friends in the Forums.

A cool, mechanical voice echoed in his head once again, distracting him from his thoughts.

"**WELCOME, USER: S_HIRAGA. ID NO: 40050782."**

"THE RESULTS OF YOUR WORLD SIM IMMERSION, SCENARIO: 197-107, HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW YOUR RESULTS NOW?"

"Yeah, yeah that'd be great, thanks", he mumbled, adjusting to the change in reality from his memories as the fictional 'Saito'. Speaking of which ...

With a twist of will, his form shifted. Manipulating the code he was made of, he replaced the Saito Hiraga image file he was currently overlaid with to that of his original avatar's image file. Soon, there was a pipe smoking black cat in the place where the Japanese boy had been.

**RESULTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:**

SUCCESSES

SAVED CONTRACTOR (19 TIMES): 1900 POINTS

STARTED {5} ROUTES: 1250 POINTS

WIELDED LEGENDARY SWORD IN COMBAT: 200 POINTS

WIELDED 20TH CENTURY ARMAMENTS IN COMBAT: 3 x 500 = 1500 POINTS

BEAT WARDES: 1000 POINTS

...

The tally continued, listing all the achievements 'Saito' had managed to achieve in that 'world'. His rescue of Siesta and Tabitha, his participation in the various wars, his support of his master and his friends ... they were all mentioned and tallied up.

In total, he'd earned about 28,100 points. Seemed nice, except ...

**"FAILURES:**

FAILED TO RESOLVE ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS: -1000 POINTS

DIED {2} TIMES: -5000 POINTS

...

... He'd also lost around 18,000 points. Still, 10,001 points didn't seem that bad.

Though losing points for romantic foibles? He hadn't realized the romance component of the World Sim had been so ... important. Worth noting, if nothing else.

He looked away, then, to the various templates that were being projected from the triangles in the circular depressions. Only a small number of triangles (compared to the total) were active - those corresponding to Scenario 197. Of those, only a choice few were brightly lit, corresponding to this being his first playthrough.

Well, enough of that. The game had been ... interesting, but he wasn't in the mood for World Sims now. Might as well check out the Forums, or go back to the residential areas again.

"... Hey, what's your designation anyways?"

It was always better to know the person who you're talking to after all. Besides, he was curious.

"**AI DESIGNATION: VI. HOW MAY I BE OF ASSISTANCE?"**

"Right ... Vi. I've had enough of World Sims for now. Transport me to the Forums, please."

Vi's voice echoed again, appearing to originate from his own head.

"**VERIFYING DESTINATION CO-ORDINATES.**

...

WARNING. TECHNICAL ERRORS DETECTED IN V-SPACE. ATTEMPTING TO TRAVERSE THE SAME MAY BE HAZARDOUS. PLEASE REMAIN IN ONE LOCATION UNTIL ALL ERRORS HAVE BEEN RESOLVED.

DO YOU STILL WISH TO CONTINUE?

"

_... Errors? What?_

He puzzled it out, trying to figure out what it meant. He hadn't noticed any particular errors when he'd previously traversed V-spa-

_Wait._

That incredibly long trip back to the World Sims hub. Even with maximum traffic, it shouldn't have taken so long.

... Was that it, then?

He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before. This had been his first time using a World Sim, but even then he should have realized that that couldn't have been normal.

So. That meant he was stuck here for the time being. Sighing, he changed his image template again, going from his avatar for the Forums to the only unlocked image template he had for the Scenario 197 World Sim.

He wasn't _completely_ignorant about the situation. While he still had no idea how to solve the problem with V-space, he also knew that the specific route he'd traveled already in the World Sims hub wouldn't be affected by the problems in V-space - it was already stored in the cache. As long as he stuck to that, he should be fine.

It looked like the only thing he had to pass the time until the problem was fixed ... was to keep playing the World Sim.

Still, the playthrough _had_been rather rough. With a small application of his will, a window screen appeared in front of his face, titled 'Settings'. Carefully, he pulled down the 'Immersion Factor' option bar a good deal down from it's position at 100%.

It hadn't been fun being thrown into a completely new situation with a fictitious origin and no actual information about the scenario in question. While the realization of the virtual nature of the World Sim would cut down on the entertainment a bit, it was still preferable to functioning completely blind in what he now knew to be a fairly dangerous scenario.

He tweaked the personality settings a bit as well, changing his mental state upon immersion from 'determined and hot-blooded with an inflexibility flaw', to 'smart and empathic', with the addition of 'a mild case of psychopathy as a flaw'. He'd always wanted to try that setting.

"Vi, cancel that earlier order. It seems like I'm going to be here for some time yet."

**COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED. PLEASE SELECT THE WORLD SIM YOU'D LIKE TO PLAY."**

A menu suddenly popped up in front of him, containing the names and descriptions of all the World Sims available for him to play. As it was a private server, there were only a few choices, but they were all hand-picked by him.

"I'd like to try Scenario 197, Variant 107 please. Make it a new game."

It wasn't like he'd have any worthwhile saves, anyway. Not with a 100% immersion. He hadn't activated the autosaves option in the last playthrough either, so he was out of luck there as well.

**COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED. PLEASE PROCEED TO THE 'CHOOSE TEMPLATE' SCREEN FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS."**

Hm ... he wondered what he'd managed to unlock with the points he'd managed to earn in the last playthrough. Not to mention the achievements - he hadn't checked that yet.

This ... might even be entertaining. The last playthrough certainly hadn't been lacking in events, after all.

With a mild spring in his step, S_Hiraga proceeded to the template assignment screen.

It was time to play again.

* * *

A/N: You know, reviewing after you read it doesn't take much effort. Ask any questions you want, or even just mention that you liked it - every review counts, and tells me I didn't waste my time posting it.


	4. Summoning Cities

Summary: A response to Thanos' idea of Louise summoning the entirety of Fuyuki city through her summoning spell, from Beast Lair. Not the way he intended it, though.;)

DISCLAIMER: Don't own FoZ, don't own TYPE-MOON and affiliated works, do own this idea.

* * *

Over the jeers and pity of her classmates, Louise Valliere felt something _happen_.

Much like all her spells, she'd executed the Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual perfectly. The incantation had been painstakingly crafted by her to best entice any familiar she may (_or may not_, whispered a treacherous part of her mind) have, and the ritual circle had been memorized and re-memorized, all for this day.

This day, where she'd prove that she was worthy of holding the Valliere name. That she _wasn't _a Zero.

When she'd first chanted the spell, she'd been buoyant, full of the belief (forced though it may be) that this time she'd succeed. That_this_time, she wouldn't shame her family.

That this time, that crying child within her, that deep, aching part of her that yearned for acknowledgement, would be satisfied.

But ... but this time ...

Nothing had happened.

_Nothing_.

In that moment, Louise would have given anything to just have her magic fail as it always did. For there to be a grand explosion, proclaiming for all to see - that though she was a failure, she was _still _a mage.

Anything but this. Anything but this aching silence, this nothingness that showed her to be no mage, no noble, but -

_A commoner._

She'd choked then, desperately holding back the sob that wracked her body even now. The jeers of her classmates had intermingled with different sounds, coaxing, consoling ...

Pity. Had the scion of the House of Valliere sunk that low, that she was now to be pitied?

In that moment, something had taken over Louise - a dreadful determination, a puerile, plaintive plea for providence - and she'd grit her teeth and launched anew into her incantation.

And again.

_And again._

And then, face blurred by tears, something _changed._

Louise Valliere felt something happen. Felt a resonance within her soul, a thrum that shocked her whole body to life.

She chanted again, her voice low and loud, echoing across the courtyard. The thrum and beat grew louder, choking out all the sounds around her, but she didn't care - manic happiness and hope, once forlorn, drove her on, pushed her the way nothing else could. Even as the beat echoing through her body grew painful, even as the resonance in her soul left her in agony, her manic, inhuman joy embellished her words with a cadence that seemed otherworldly.

Something appeared. There was no fanfare preceding it's appearance, no pop and puff - just a sudden, alarming presence that came into being the way a bolt of lightning would.

The Academy of Magic in Tristain, a center of learning and excellence for nobles the world over. A magnificent structure, crafted through dreams and toil, and protected by wards that could have rebuffed armies ... was no more.

In it's place was a cold, implacable expanse of concrete. Of metal and rock, angles and edges - a massive array of structures and nature that dwarfed even the academy.

It was a city, called from another world. A world with it's own wonders, it's own troubles and horrors - and it had been called forth by a dimunitive pink mage that everyone called a Zero.

The mage herself had no opinion of this, of course. For you see, the mage was a bit disconnected - in body, that is.

A wall, tall and strong and made of concrete, occupied the place where the pink mage had cast her desperate, passionate spell. The two halves of her body lay on opposite sides of the wall, bisected as they had been in it's appearance.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, little Louise Valliere had felt nothing of it's appearance. For she had faded away, to lands distant and immaterial, the moment her spell had ended. A smile on her face and a song in her heart at the first, true success of her magic, littleLouise had scarcely noticed as she passed the point of no return, as she experienced a state well past willpower exhaustion - a rather fatal state of being.

Little Louise Valliere would know none of this, but _would_ know only of her success, and her first (and only) triumph. A mercy, perhaps - that in the last moments of her life, the crying child deep in her heart, would be silenced ... and smiling.

* * *

A/N: Can I haz review nao?


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